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We are planning to leave Quartzsite the end of March or beginning of April in a 30 ft class A motorhome w/ a tow vehicle. I've been researching on routes to take, and am a little concerned with what I've read about taking US 160E, especially nearing Cortez (steep grades, curves, etc).
Wondering if that is the best route, or if it's better to go east from Flagstaff and then take either 491, 371, or 550?
Any suggestions or experiences would be appreciated.
Hello and welcome to the RTA forums!
From memory I'm pretty sure you will be fine taking US160E. I have driven along it in a 30ft RV (not towing) and don't recall anything to cause concern when considering you are heading towards the mountains. Are you planning an overnight stop ? It would be a long day if you are planning straight through, far longer than suggested on Google maps!
You could take a look at the road and elevation gains using RTA's Advanced mapping program in the tool bar above. Just put in your start and end points. (Using Cortez and Durango to look at that section) You can then click on 'Show elevation' and it will show you a chart. Starting at just over 6000ft and climbing to over 8000ft near Mayday. The road is good, but there are long steep sections. You can do the same thing to check out sections of the alternative routes.
Dave
No, we're not doing it in a day . . . I like to keep travel down to 3-4 hours per day since we don't have a strict schedule to keep.
I agree with Dave, There should be nothing along the basic shortest route to cause you concern. There are a few long grades along the way, mostly in the last 50 miles or so on US-160 between Cortez and Durango, but there are no tight curves and there will be a third lane for slow traffic on those sections. The only other mountains you'll see are between Phoenix and Flagstaff, but you'll be on I-17 for that stretch.
If you take two days for the trip, Cameron AZ would be your halfway point. If you decide to take three days, your two overnight stops would be Prescott and Kayenta, AZ. All three of those locations have campgrounds, RV parks and/or motels.
AZBuck
Yup, some long and steep, going up and going down.